As tree harvesting has become more mechanized, various vehicles have been proposed for transporting felled trees from an off-the-road location to a loading location for over-the-road vehicles. One of these vehicles that has been used is commonly called a skidder which lifts one end of a bundle of felled trees and drags the bundle therebehind. The major problem with this type of vehicle is lack of control over the trees as well as lack of maneuverability. Another of these vehicles that has been used is commonly called a forwarder which has a bed onto which a stack of trees is placed by a self-contained loading mechanism. The primary problems with this type of vehicle are lack of maneuverability of the vehicle itself and the inefficiency of the loading and unloading operations.
Another approach to felled tree transportation is to use a combination tree felling and transporting vehicle on which the trees are carried after being felled. The major problems with this type of vehicle are lack of maneuverability of the vehicle because of its size and the loss of harvesting time during transporting of the trees.